Grayling’s question

Aristotle ended his lectures on ethics by turning attention to the state and its laws—thus preparing the way for the following lectures we know as the Politics—on the ground that questions about the good for individuals are inseparable from the constitution and laws of the community to which they belong. Ethics and politics, he said, are seamlessly connected.

There are other ways of making the point, but Aristotle’s embedding of ethics within politics is attractive for a number of reasons. One of these is that it illuminates the practical implications for any society that takes ideas of human rights seriously. Talk of human rights is talk of what is required for individuals to have a chance of making lives for themselves that, by their own and any reasonable standard, are good and flourishing. This is centrally an ethical enterprise, where ethics is understood as a more inclusive matter than morals. Ethics is about the character and quality of one’s life as a whole, and how one lives it. In short, ethics is about what sort of person one is—from which the nature of one’s specifically moral agency follows.

But to recognise, protect and enhance those rights intended to give individuals the chance of good and flourishing lives, a state has to erect a fabric of laws and institutions fitted to the task. The project of devising those laws and institutions requires the familiar political processes of debate, negotiation and consent. So yes, human rights are political: an important part of what the state exists for, and a focus of activity and concern within it.

Independently of the relatively recent explicit regimes of human rights adopted internationally and nationally, states have always existed to protect the interests, often enough regarded as rights, of at least some section of their citizenries. That protection was aimed at both external and internal threats to those interests, and took the form of laws, sanctions and institutions. All this is through and through political, so its extension to the idea that all individuals have interests likewise meriting enshrinement in law and institutions—interests in life, security, privacy, the getting and imparting of information, and so on for the other familiar matters variously constituted as rights in all codes—is in the same way political.

Human rights are also political in the sense that they are the subject of occurrent politics, involving arguments over the form and strength of the instruments embodying them. Governments enact human rights provisions in good times, and find them inconvenient in the bad times—just when they are most acutely needed by everyone else. That is the current British experience, proving the politicality of human rights beyond doubt.

You have now reached your limit of 3 free articles in the last 30 days. But don’t worry! You can get another 7 articles absolutely free, simply by entering your email address in the box below.

When you register we’ll also send you a free e-book—Writing with punch—which includes some of the finest writing from our archive of 22 years. And we’ll also send you a weekly newsletter with the best new ideas in politics and philosophy of culture, which you can of course unsubscribe from at any time

Email

Prospect may process your personal information for our legitimate business purposes, to provide you with our newsletter, subscription offers and other relevant information.

Click to learn more about these interests and how we use your data. You will be able to object to this processing on the next page and in all our communications.

Comments

Andrew R. Alton

November 28, 2009 at 06:33

I wish to make a further distinction, in that human rights do not depend on the political apparatus for their fundatmental validity; however, they do depend on the force of the political apparatus of law for their practicable effect.
The nature of politics tends to place human rights as relative to political expediency and not as absolute values.
The non-partisan judiciary recognizes human rights as part of a higher justice, transcending politics and demanding unwavering application, whilst observing human rights as resting on nothing but their own self-evidence for validity.
The relationship between human rights and politics is one of necessity and difficulty.
An excellent article!

jj

December 24, 2010 at 05:13

in the parochial sense of politics yes human rights can be political but in the humanist sense human rights are only a set of ethical values relevant to all of humanity regardless of local political ideologies.

Prospect's free newsletter

The big ideas that are shaping our world—straight to your inbox. PLUS a free e-book and 7 articles of your choosing on the Prospect website.

Prospect may process your personal information for our legitimate business purposes, to provide you with our newsletter, subscription offers and other relevant information. Click here to learn more about these purposes and how we use your data. You will be able to opt-out of further contact on the next page and in all our communications.

This Month's Magazine

Steve Bloomfield asks whether nationalism will take hold in Britain. Could a populist really reach No 10? Plus: Julia Blunck on the world’s next environmental catastrophe and Philip Ball on the greatest mystery in physics today

Register today and access any 7 articles on the Prospect’s website for FREE in the next 30 days.. PLUS find out about the big ideas that will shape our world—with Prospect’s FREE newsletter sent to your inbox. We'll even send you our e-book—Writing with punch—with some of the finest writing from the Prospect archive, at no extra cost!

Prospect subscribers have full access to all the great content on our website, including our entire archive.

If you do not know your login details, simply close this pop-up and click 'Login' on the black bar at the top of the screen, then click 'Forgotten password?', enter your email address and press 'Submit'. Your password will then be emailed to you.

Thank you for your support of Prospect and we hope that you enjoy everything the site has to offer.

This site uses cookies to improve the user experience. By using this site, you agree that we can set and use these cookies. For more details on the cookies we use and how to manage them, see our Privacy and Cookie Policy.